The American Association of Variable Observers Number 33 / September 2006 AAVSONewsletter 25 Birch Street • Cambridge, MA 02138 USA • 617-354-0484 • [email protected] • http://www.aavso.org

From the Director 2006 by the Section of the British Astronomical As- Arne A. Henden sociation, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the observation of variable .” It is a very nice, unique award Summer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) has come to (mine is a square of slate with a painted representation of V838 a close again, and it is time for an update. In the last issue, I Mon on its front), and I hope they continue to give it out in the commented on the beauty of freshly falling snow; this time I get future. The BAA and the AAVSO are planning on holding a joint to complain about this summer’s heat and humidity! Boston can meeting in England during the summer of 2008, and we will an- have both, but thankfully, it usually only lasts for a couple of days nounce preliminary plans as soon as we know the details. before cooler weather cycles through. As an observational as- (continued on next page...) tronomer, I’m always thinking about weather, and always looking at the sky when I leave my office (even though I no longer have a local telescope with which to observe). In fact, it is fun to go to an AAS meeting and watch astronomers as they leave the confer- ence building – half will look up (the observers) and half will be reading material in their hands (the theoreticians). I recently returned from New Zealand, where I was the guest of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ), its variable-star section, and many local astronomical societies. My travel down was largely paid out of the RASNZ travel fund, and travel around New Zealand to speak to many societies was paid from the Gifford-Eiby Memorial Lectureship Fund and by Can- terbury University. I gratefully appreciate these travel grants, and also the enormous time and effort that Pauline and Brian Loader (the treasurer and then-President of the RASNZ) put in organiz- ing the various society talks and finding a plane schedule between the many cities involved. The local organizers (Grant Christie, Gary Sparks, Marilyn Head, Steve Butler, Ian Crumpton, John Hearnshaw, Alan Gilmore, and the Loaders) went out of their way to make our stays enjoyable. The RASNZ variable-star section is undergoing reorganiza- AAVSO Director Arne Henden (L) accepts the first Charles tion, as its past Director (Frank Bateson) has retired. The AAVSO Butterworth Award from BAA President Richard Miles. is giving the Australasia area as much help as possible, from of- fering to host their observation database and providing observing manuals and campaign targets to participating in any international In this issue... variable-star meetings that they might organize. We had a small grant to bring two CCD systems to the RASNZ meeting, and the From the Director 1 RASNZ is selecting observers to give these cameras to on long- Message from the President 2 term loan. I gave a CCD workshop, and Tom Richards has given News and Announcements 3 another, very different, CCD workshop at the recent Australian AAVSO Observer Awards 4 NACAA conference. Together, I think the two presentations will In Memoriam 4 encourage more CCD observers among their very active commu- Dorrit Hoffleit’s 100th Year 5 nity. AAVSO Across the Country 5 I also met in May with the British Astronomical Associa- AAVSO 95th Spring Meeting 6 tion, giving an invited talk on pro-am collaboration, and with their Variable Star Section meeting a few days later, talking about AAVSO Technology News 8 my favorite star (V838 Mon). I was grateful to the BAAVSS for funding the majority of my travel costs. I was also honored at the VSS meeting to be given the first Charles Butterworth Award. The AAVSO Newsletter - Production Editor: Travis Searle. Additional editing and The citation reads: “This, the first Charles Butterworth Award, proofing by Elizabeth O. Waagen. Other photo and written contributions in this was presented to Dr. Arne Henden, Director AAVSO, on 3rd June issue by Kate Davis, Haldun Menali, and Roger Kolman. I was in Belgium for a science meeting in May, and met with tor. Having checked various predictions and ephemerides, I knew the Belgian/Dutch variable star societies. I gave a paper at their there would be plenty to do with this minimal equipment. Lesson joint meeting, and then talked in more detail with the officers of 1: plan your observing so that you get the most return for your their societies. I think we will have closer ties with our Euro- time and effort. pean neighbors based on such productive meetings. It was great I intended to catch up on many regular AAVSO stars and time to spend some time with Patrick Wils, Tonny Vanmunster, Erwin the minima of three eclipsing binaries: Z Her, UX Her, and W van Ballegoij, and others whom I’ve conversed with by email but UMi. Z Her has an inconvenient period (3.99 days) and I don’t never seen in person. It never ceases to amaze me how capable think I have caught a minimum since the 1960s, so I didn’t want and enthusiastic our observers are, and how gracious they are to miss this one. when hosting visitors. As usual in Indiana in July, it was a very dewy night. A couple I was very pleased this past month to see 25,000 PEP observa- of other club members set up at sunset, looked at Jupiter and the tions added to our International Database. Sara Beck worked long Ring and M13, then gave up and departed before midnight. They and hard to clear up the many discrepancies in the dataset, and the couldn’t fend off the dew. But I had the 5-inch and the 20x60s results show both her effort and the excellent photometry com- wrapped with plumber’s heat tape, providing lots of warmth to ing from our PEP observers. We expect to get the remainder of keep the optics above the dew point. Lesson 2: come equipped the observations checked and loaded into the database when Sara and prepared for the prevailing conditions. returns from her summer sailing (she owns a Friendship Sloop, The first couple of hours were busy. I had to find each EB the Flying Jib; a really fun older wooden sailboat, and takes it field, check the comparison sequence, and begin making estimates along the New England coast every year). We also want to create at 15-20 minute intervals. In between, I caught up on many vari- a better method of entering PEP data online, and performing the ables I hadn’t been able to observe for several weeks. Good old W photometric pipeline here at HQ. Once we get organized, then Cyg was about as faint as I have every seen it. R Sct was down in we will be working with PEP members to select a Chair for that a primary minimum. R CrB and RY Sgr were both at maximum, committee, and providing some new targets for the observers. no excitement there. But the two symbiotic variables AG Dra and Six months between newsletters is really too long. So much Z And were brighter than I had ever seen them. Lesson 3: expect takes place at Headquarters that it would take pages to cover ev- the unexpected (then look twice to make sure). erything. I think there will be some discussion elsewhere in this I was momentarily confused when I looked for R Cas, which newsletter of several events, but the highlights would include: the was invisible in binoculars the last time I looked. Now it had new automated chart plotter; the Variable Star Index (VSX); the popped up to sixth magnitude. And I had estimated chi Cyg at 6.1 Blue and Gold observer’s section of the website; the new MySQL just ten days ago, and now it was 4.4. I lowered the binoculars database and its new tools; and a couple of new Java programs and looked up at Cygnus – yes, chi was a naked-eye star, plain to written by Kate Davis and Sara Beck that promise to make Head- see. quarters even more efficient in processing observations. Things Several times per hour, I was estimating UX Her with the aren’t slowing down much, and I often feel like I’m skiing down 5-inch and Z Her and W UMi with the 20x60s. UX Her reached a Black Diamond course – somewhat under control, but having minimum first, and as it began to rise, it seemed that it was bright- an exhilarating ride. I hope you feel the same way – variable star ening faster than it had dimmed. I thought my observations were observing is fun! going to produce a useless, asymmetrical light curve, but I dog- gedly kept going, making the best estimates I could. When I plot- rrr ted the data the next day, the minimum turned out to look pretty good after all! Lesson 4: estimate what you see, not what you think you should be seeing. Message from the President Around 3 a.m. even my industrial strength dew-zapping tech- David B. Williams nology began to huff and wheeze. Ground mist rose from the sur- rounding fields of prairie grass, and I had to give the eyepieces We enjoyed an excellent spring meeting in Rockford. I’ll an occasional blast from a hair dryer to keep them from fogging admit that I wasn’t a strong supporter of this invitation in past up, but the toasty-warm objectives on the 5-inch and the 20x60s years – it’s always best when meeting sites have some “sizzle” to stayed dry all night. increase attendance. But in fact we had a good turnout, saw some Just before dawn, with Venus low and bright in the east, I AAVSO’ers who don’t usually come east for the fall meetings, managed to observe Mira, the first variable star to be recognized, and the program was varied and interesting. I was surprised by down in the southeastern sky, wedged between the glow of a how many members were interested in learning how to write a bright gibbous moon and the horizon haze. It was a perfect end scientific paper. We even got to meet a Tyrannosaurus Rex! to a good night, during which I collected 43 estimates of AAVSO As usual, I returned home with fresh enthusiasm for variable stars and 49 estimates for the three eclipsing binaries. star observing. And just as usual, the weather failed to cooperate. For more than 90 years, countless AAVSO’ers have experi- So when last Saturday looked good, I was determined to make the enced similar nights. There’s a special satisfaction in packing up most of it with an all-night session at a club observatory site, one your equipment in the dawn’s early light, knowing that you have of three remote sites I can use when darker skies and unobstructed collected some useful data that will be archived and made avail- horizons are worth an hour’s drive. able to the research community. The weather forecasters say next I had strained my lower back earlier in the week so I left the weekend should be clear too. I think I’ll do it all over again. heavy equipment at home. I took my trusty collection of binocu- lars (6x30, 10x50, and mounted 20x60s) and a 5-inch f/5 refrac- rrr  News and Announcements Upcoming AAVSO Meetings Mark your calendars! Co-orbiting Asteroids named after John and Maire The 95th Annual Meeting of the AAVSO will be held October 26-28, 2006, in Newton, Massachusetts. The meeting will Percy include an open house at AAVSO Headquarters in Cambridge, On June 16, 2006, the International Astronomical Union con- scientific paper sessions, and a membership meeting, as well as firmed that a pair of asteroids has been named in honor of long- a Chandra workshop hosted by long-time AAVSO member and time AAVSO colleague Dr. John Percy and his wife Maire. science education expert Donna Young. John, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the Uni- Autumn is a beautiful time to visit New England. Bring your versity of Toronto, has spent much of his career interested in families and stay a few extra days to enjoy the sights! Whether variable stars and has always been keenly involved in promoting you have attended dozens of AAVSO meetings or are a first- science education. Maire Percy is internationally known for her time attendee, we hope to see you in Newton for the 95th Annual work on risk factors in human disease and is an emeritus professor Meeting of the AAVSO. It is sure to be an interesting and exciting of physiology, obstetrics, and gynecology. weekend. More information is available on the website at: John has been a member of the AAVSO since the late 1970s, http://www.aavso.org/aavso/meetings/fall06.shtml serving as President from October 1989 to September 1991. He has also served several terms on the AAVSO council and is cur- Future Meetings: rently chairing the education committee. The asteroids, now called Spring 2007: Calgary, Alberta, Canada (with RASC) Johnpercy and Mairepercy, move in related paths as they orbit the Annual 2007: Maria Mitchell Observatory, Nantucket, MA sun. Congratulations to John and Maire! Spring 2008: UK (with BAA) Elizabeth Waagen receives AL’s Peliter Award Spring 2011: Boston (with AAS) We are very proud to announce that AAVSO Senior Technical New Solar Team Assistant, Elizabeth Waagen, has been awarded the Astronomical League’s prestigious Leslie C. Peltier Award for 2006. The AAVSO Solar Committee Chairman and Sunspot Group Astronomical League presented the award to Elizabeth for her Leader Carl Feehrer stepped down this spring after six years of contributions to variable star research and for her work as Interim service. Since taking over in 2000, Carl skillfully evaluated and Director, guiding the AAVSO through the difficult time during the reduced sunspot observations, calculated the American Relative 18 months that encompassed Janet Mattei’s illness and death and Sunspot Numbers, and served as editor of the monthly AAVSO the subsequent search to find a new Director. Our congratulations Solar Bulletin. He also worked closely with the SID group and to Elizabeth for receiving this well deserved honor. For more maintained a strong relationship with all the contributing solar information on the Leslie C. Peltier Award visit: observers. We are most grateful to Carl for his hard work and http://www.astroleague.org/al/awards/peltier/peltiers.html dedication. We look forward to his continued contributions of sunspot observations as well as his assistance in other areas and A Total Eclipse as a volunteer at Headquarters. On March 29, 2006, AAVSO staff members Gamze Menali The new Solar Committee Chair and Solar Bulletin editor is and Sara Beck, Haldun Menali (Gamze’s husband and an active Paul Mortfield. Paul is an AAVSO member and a very enthusias- AAVSO member/observer), and AAVSO member/observer Gerry tic and active solar observer. Paul began observing the sun in his Samolyk, were in Side, Turkey, to view the latest total solar early teens, making sunspot counts, measuring sunspot coordi- eclipse. A picturesque resort town on the Mediterranean coast, nates, and was even interested in solar radio observations. He’s Side (pronounced ‘see day’) made for an excellent viewing point, also built several SID receivers. Newcomer Daniel Williams will just a few hundred meters from the center line of the eclipse path. take over as Sunspot Group Leader. Mike Hill will continue to From this vantage point the duration of the eclipse’s totality was serve as the solar flare/SID group leader, a position he’s held since at its maximum — about 3 minutes and 46 seconds. 2000. A short written essay about their trip, complete with pictures Extrasolar Planet Discovery and an audio segment, is currently available on the AAVSO AAVSO’ers helped make the find! website. You can view it at the URL: http://www.aavso.org/news/ We’re pleased to announce that AAVSO observers Tonny eclipse2006.shtml. Vanmunster and Bruce Gary were part of an international team that has discovered an extrasolar planet. The team of astronomers, led by Peter McCullough of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, discovered a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a Sun-like star some 600 light-years from Earth in the constella- tion . Vanmunster and Gary are among a group of four amateurs assisting McCullough. They used their telescopes to detect slight dips in the star’s light output when the planet passed in front of the star, called a transit. The light from the star, called XO-1, dips by approximately 2 percent when the planet, XO-1b, passes in front of it. While over 180 extrasolar planets have been detected, XO-1b is only the tenth planet discovered The AAVSO eclipse team: (front) AAVSO’er Gerry Samolyk, (back using the transit method. Congratulations to Tonny and Bruce and row, L-R) Sara Beck, Gamze Menali, and Haldun Menali. the entire team on this impressive achievement! AAVSO Observer Awards OVER 25,000 PEP/CCD OBSERVATIONS* Neil D. Butterworth Australia 2002-2005 41,358 CCD Richard J. Huziak Canada 1980-2005 37,162 CCD The AAVSO Observer Award is a certificate presented to Peter Nelson Australia 1990-2005 28,830 CCD each variable star observer who has reached certain milestones Donn Ray Starkey USA 2001-2005 25,833 CCD regarding the cumulative number of observations he or she has submitted to the AAVSO International Database. The following OVER 10,000 PEP/CCD OBSERVATIONS* awards were presented at the 95th Spring meeting of the AAVSO Richard Miles England 2004-2005 17,975 CCD held in Rockford, Illinois, May 5-6, 2006. David Boyd England 2003-2005 14,539 CCD James L. Jones USA 2003-2005 11,651 CCD OVER 200,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Christopher Hesseltine USA 1975-2005 11,392 CCD Timothy Crawford USA 2001-2005 10,892 CCD Wayne M. Lowder (posthumous) USA 1949-2005 209,439 Libert A.G. Monard South 1992-2005 10,398 CCD OVER 150,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS (new level) Africa John E. Bortle USA 1963-2005 171,352 Marvin E. Baldwin USA 1961-2004 175,481 OVER 2,500 PEP OBSERVATIONS* Edward G. Oravec USA 1943-2003 170,552 (CCD no longer awarded at this level) Thomas A. Cragg Australia 1945-2005 151,735 Raymond W. Jones South 1989-2005 2,671 Africa * Years include total AAVSO observing interval (not only PEP or CCD observing). OVER 100,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Total includes PEP and/or CCD observations only (not observer’s visual contribu- Albert F. Jones New Zealand 1960-2005 105,524 tions).

OVER 50,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS g In Memoriam h Gunther Krisch Germany 1969-2005 52,378 The AAVSO extends its most sincere sympathy and condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of the following members, OVER 25,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS colleagues, and friends who have passed away since the publication Maciej Reszelski Poland 2000-2005 39,751 of the previous Newsletter. William Goff USA 1981-2005 33,028 Laurent Bichon France 1986-2005 27,466 Dr. Eugene C. Larr - Encinitas, CA Robert H. Hays, Jr. USA 1977-2005 25,428 Eugene was a long-time AAVSO member who supported the work of the organization for many years. He was also the founder of Larr Optics and OVER 10,000 VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Electronics in California. Stephen Kerr Australia 2001-2005 17,833 Andrzej Markiewicz Poland 1999-2005 11,737 Carl F. Kurtz - Bethlehem, PA Hiroshi Matsuyama Japan 1978-2005 11,596 A Life Member of the AAVSO, Carl joined the organization in the Fall of Hartmut Bretschneider Germany 1993-2005 10,087 1926. He taught astronomy in Westfield, NJ, and volunteered at the Sperry Observatory where he assisted the public with the use of the telescope and gave occasional lectures. He also volunteered at the Union County OVER 50,000 PEP/CCD OBSERVATIONS* College campus for 15 years. Carl made 480 variable star observations, Robert A. James USA 1953-2005 71,432 CCD and was a true astronomy enthusiast, travelling to 71 countries that Tonny Vanmunster Belgium 1976-2005 62,317 CCD included observing 17 solar eclipses. He was 98. Vance Petriew Canada 2001-2005 60,390 CCD Shawn W. Dvorak USA 1981-2005 50,489 CCD John Baxter - Pasadena, CA John (BJOH) was a dedicated and determined member/observer, participating in observing campaigns and contributing over 3500 binocular observations in about 18 months despite a very difficult observing situation. His observations total is actually 10,814, however, as in the 1970s he had contributed several thousand observations under the name Kenneth Sabine (SAB).

Barbara Silva - Stoneham, MA / AAVSO HQ Barbara started at the AAVSO in 1979 as a data entry technician (“keypuncher” in the language of the day), becoming expert in accurately and quickly entering variable star observations, interpreting observers’ handwriting, and remembering their reporting idiosyncrasies. In her 24+ years, Barbara keypunched/verified over 5.5 million observations, including 1.2 million in the 1911-1961 archival data project. She also helped with HQ projects large and small. Barbara was a true family person, with many beloved siblings and offspring. The AAVSO was her second family, and she in turn was a close member of the AAVSO family. Director Arne Henden presents observer Chris Hesseltine with his We miss her cheery and comfortable presence, her concern and wise Observer Award. advice, and her sometimes wicked (but always ladylike) sense of humor.  Dorrit Hoffleit’s 100th Year Following the second day of talks, the symposium ended with a reception and banquet in Dorrit’s honor. During the banquet fes- Long-time AAVSO member Dr. Dorrit Hoffleit was honored tivities, Dorrit was surprised with a video of greetings and tributes at Yale University last April at a symposium celebrating her Cen- from her colleagues and friends, including touching testimonials tennial Year, 2006-2007 (Dorrit’s date of birth is March 12, 1907). by her fellow Yale faculty, the Astronomy Department staff, and The Symposium was organized by the faculty and staff of the Yale current students at Yale. At the close of the evening, she was pre- Astronomy Department, with many other of Dorrit’s colleagues sented an album of photographic memories, and she cut into her and students participating in the organizing committee. “Dorrit Centennial Cake” to finish the banquet. Entitled “The Hoffleit Centennial: A Year of Celebration”, the The symposium was a wonderful summing-up of Dorrit’s symposium featured two days of talks and poster presentations on productive lifetime (so far) over much of the last Century in ser- topics that were as diverse as Dorrit Hoffleit’s career itself. They vice to astronomy in general, and to variable stars in particular. included historical overviews of Hoffleit’s career, of astronomy From her days as a student and scientist at Harvard University, in the 20th Century, along with topics near and dear to Dorrit in- through her tenures at Yale and the Maria Mitchell Observatory, cluding , variable stars, education, and the Bright Star to her present “retirement” of 30 years as a very active Emeritus Catalogue. Astronomers and friends--many of whom were at one Research Astronomer at Yale University, Dorrit has remained a time Dorrit’s students--came from near and far to hear historical valued leader, colleague, and true friend of the AAVSO. papers on her career and contemporaries, and discussions of re- It was a privilege for us to have been able to be part of the cent work in her fields of research. Hoffleit Centennial Year Symposium. It was our opportunity to Dorrit joined the AAVSO back in 1930--so it was appropriate celebrate the great “Blessing” we have all been given in Dorrit’s that AAVSO Headquarters staff were also present: Director Arne lifetime in astronomy, variable star research, and the AAVSO. Henden and postdoc scientist Matthew Templeton, who each pre- sented symposium papers; technical assistants Sara Beck (one of Michael Saladyga & Matthew Templeton “Dorrit’s Girls” of the Maria Mitchell Observatory) and Michael AAVSO Headquarters Saladyga, who exhibited the AAVSO’s publications by and about Dorrit; and Senior Technical Assistant Elizabeth Waagen. Among the several AAVSO members present were former President Lee Anne Willson and former councilor Barbara Welther. AAVSO Across the Country

This spring three of our members attended conferences across the country representing the AAVSO. In April, Mike Linnolt attended Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. Hosted by Make Magazine, Maker Faire is a highly publicized DIY/Citizen Science event. This year’s conference drew a large number of attendees, some 20,000 according to the organizers, from all over the west coast. Mike manned a table and distributed AAVSO literature and membership forms and answered questions on variable star observing. He also brought a projector to demonstrate to attendees the real-time AAVSO Light Curve Generator and Quick Look data from the website. Mike reports that a wide range of people were in attendance, from beginners, amateurs with CCD’s, to representatives of TASS, Stanford SID research, and a theoretical physicist studying accretion disks in CV’s. Back row, L-R: Matthew Templeton, Arne Henden. Middle row, L- On that same weekend, member Charles Munoz represented R: Sara Beck, Elizabeth Waagen, Michael Saladyga. In front: the AAVSO at the Rainwater Observatory’s Mid-South Star Gaze

Dorrit Hoffleit. in French Camp, Mississippi. Charles handed out several AAVSO

promotional items, including our new full-color brochure. He also Arne’s talk on Dorrit’s long connection with the AAVSO was had a PowerPoint presentation about the AAVSO available for illustrated with video clips from the AAVSO archives. The audi- viewing. ence was delighted and somewhat awe-struck to see these vintage Also, in late April, another long-time member, Jim Fox, movies which showed Dorrit conversing, laughing, and just being attended the North Central Region Astronomical League Dorrit through the many years of AAVSO meetings. The archival (NCRAL) meeting in Appleton, Wisconsin. Jim reports that over footage not only highlighted the convivial professional-amateur 200 people attended the event. He handed out AAVSO brochures relationships which the AAVSO has fostered since its beginning, and other materials to the attendees. it also showed how Dorrit herself moved so freely and engagingly We are grateful to Mike, Charles, and Jim for helping to between the two groups. spread the word! We know that our members and observers are Matthew’s talk about long-term changes in Mira variables constantly attending conferences and star parties all over the emphasized that our knowledge of these changes is made possible world. If you are interested in representing the AAVSO and would only through their long-term monitoring by variable star observ- like to discuss receiving some promotional and/or presentation ers. This is a topic Dorrit covered in detail in her review of the materials, please contact Headquarters. History of Mira Stars in the Journal of the AAVSO. The 95th AAVSO Spring Meeting ences) as well as the public-at-large. There will be interesting May 5-6, 2006 - Rockford, Illinois things happening with initiatives such as Hands-On Astrophysics, the Mentoring Program, and cooperative ventures with the Astro- nomical League in coming months. The afternoon session contained a potpourri of interesting talks on a variety of subjects. Being a visual observer, I felt some- what like a dinosaur listening to the marvelous things that are be- ing done in the CCD world, efforts that rival those of professional astronomers. However, just as birds are the surviving relatives of the dinosaurs (more on dinosaurs later) and serve a purpose today, we visual observers still make the bulk of variable star observa- tions and those observations are as important now as ever! Friday evening was the Star-BQ at the Rockford club’s obser- vatory. Bill Dillon and I decided to be brave and drive ourselves rather than take the bus. Bill and I had shared a room at a previ- ous meeting and had a lot to catch up on as we drove. Seeing old friends is one of the great draws of these meetings. A late season cold front had come through the area and IT WAS COLD! How cold was it? Well, our contingent from Norway pointed out that it was like Norway in January! Brrr! The dinner was fantastic! The Beamans really know how to Meeting Memories throw a party! There was enough food to feed an army. Following dinner, we proceeded (quickly) to the warmth of the observatory By Roger S. Kolman, Glen Ellyn, IL where John Percy gave an informative and humorous talk entitled “Variable Stars, Gee Whiz!” in plain talk (and cartoons) he gave AAVSO meetings always give members the opportunity to inspiration to the assembly. become reinvigorated, charge their batteries, and get ready to go Following the talk, a late session was held at the Holiday Inn out and observe, observe, observe! The 2006 meeting in Rock- lounge until closing time! Members of the group, whose names ford was no exception to this rule. I left for the meeting, following will be withheld to protect the guilty, shared many stories and the class I was teaching at Harper College - roughly 2 hours from anecdotes, some real, some imaginary. Rockford - on Thursday afternoon. When I arrived at the Holiday Saturday morning consisted of the membership meeting and Inn, I was greeted by Rebecca Turner, who provided information awards. We shared in congratulating our colleagues who reached about the meeting. Since I had materials to prepare for my classes observing milestones. the next week (finals were coming up), I retired to my room for an The paper session in the afternoon was, for the most part, evening of grading papers (boring!). the Aaron Price show. It is truly amazing to see the energy At about midnight, I was rather hungry, so I went to the Steak that this young man puts forth. The AAVSO is very fortunate & Shake across the road - and there were Barry and Carol Bea- to have someone of his vigor, capability, and enthusiasm at man! We spent quality time catching up on the past year and Headquarters. looking forward to the meeting the next day. Friday morning was One of the amusing moments at the meeting came during a an outstanding workshop on publishing papers. This covered talk given by Walter MacDonald II - A Dome on a Home: The virtually all aspects of the topic, including poster presentations. Story of Winchester Observatory - a talk relating his adventures I had heard that the workshops held at AAVSO meetings were in building a dome in the attic of a house he had renovated. As he superbly planned and executed, but experiencing one was incred- was describing the features of his fully automated facility, a mem- ible. I would encourage anyone who was not at the meeting, yet ber of the audience asked him how kindly his wife took to all this. would like to know the ins and outs of scientific astronomical When he related that he was single, the audience gave a knowing publication, to study the PowerPoint presentations of the papers “Oh, well!” to him. You had to be there to appreciate it! that are available on-line on the AAVSO website. Saturday evening was spent at the Burpee Museum of Natu- I joined the ral History. Yes, it is named for the Burpee Seed Company! They Education and had a wonderful exhibit of prehistoric life including a complete Outreach Com- skeleton of a young T-Rex named Jane. (I told you we would get mittee for a work- back to dinosaurs.) I believe she won the honor of being the old- ing lunch. One of est variable star observer at the meeting. the missions of After a sumptuous dinner, Dr. Karen Meech treated us to a the AAVSO is to talk on the Deep Impact project. She provided us with rare in- increase the num- sights into the results of the mission to Comet Temple last year. ber and quality of This highly successful probe gave scientists a good idea of how citizen scientists comets form, as well as leaving questions needing answers. But, (as John Percy after all, isn’t that what real science is about? It is not a static calls amateur L-R: Barry Beaman, Roger Kolman, and Carol pursuit, but rather a dynamic, changing one. devotees of the sci- Beaman. 

Following the talk, President David Williams gave his agenda For those of us lucky enough to not be on council, Thursday for the future of the AAVSO. (Included were his plans for world was a free day. A tour of Rockford was offered by some of the domination!) And so, the curtain dropped on the 2006 Spring locals, but I decided to strike out on my own and visit the Klehm Meeting of the AAVSO - at least the formal part. Once again, Arboretum & Botanic Garden. It was interesting to see how the upon our return to Holiday Inn Central, an informal late night ses- flora in Rockford was several weeks ahead of those in Ontario sion was held, which included closing the lounge. Following that, (Kansas City was similarly several weeks ahead of Rockford). several of us ended up in Mike Simonsen’s room for a late night Rockford also has a large number of apple trees all over town, and talk-fest. It was just like the old days! all were completely covered in blooms at this time, providing a It was a great pleasure to see many old friends and to make very nice backdrop for our meeting. new acquaintances. I came away quite impressed with the profes- Rockford is perhaps most famous for being the home of sional leadership being provided by our new Director, Dr. Arne AstroPhysics, the makers of those nice APO refractors and Henden and hope that he will have a long tenure. Viva Henden telescope mounts. Alas, my fantasy of going on a factory tour and Viva AAVSO! (complete with free samples, of course) as part of the meeting rrr did not materialize! However, one indirect contact we had with AstroPhysics occurred during Friday evening’s outing to Lockwood Observatory. This facility belongs to the Rockford Amateur Astronomers and features a custom-built 10-inch More from Rockford AstroPhysics telescope in a 14-foot Ash dome. Unfortunately it By Walter MacDonald II (MDW) was cloudy at the time so we didn’t get to observe with it. Winchester Observatory - Winchester, Ontario, Canada Friday’s workshop on writing and publishing scientific papers was very informative. Even poster papers were covered, and there The spring meeting was held this year at Rockford, Illinois. were a couple available at the back of the meeting room to look at All I needed was sufficient justification to get myself to attend. during the meeting. As it turns out the meeting room was a “hot- Fortunately my sister had wanted me to visit her in Kansas City spot” (not just because we were there!) so those who had brought for some time, and Rockford is conveniently located about half their notebook computers with them could be online during the way there from my home base in Canada. Then too, Arne had entire meeting. Whenever a speaker mentioned a website or a suggested I give a presentation on my robotic rooftop observatory particular software package, anyone who was online could then at the meeting. So with the prospect of being able to combine two surf or download right away. Technology can be quite wonderful trips into one, to be more than just a spectator at the meeting, and at times! to actually meet in person the many AAVSO’ers with whom I had The two scientific paper sessions (held Friday afternoon and previously only corresponded in cyberspace, I quickly registered Saturday) each had a really great range of speakers and topics for the spring meeting on the AAVSO website! and all were very interesting (kudos to the meeting organizers!). As luck would have it, the weather cooperated almost per- Fortunately for those who weren’t in attendance, much of this fectly for my trip. My observatory experienced five clear nights material may be found on the AAVSO website. Some of the in a row leading up to my departure for the meeting. Then there “extra-cool” topics (at least from my own biased perspective) was nothing but cloud involved extrasolar planetary transits, automated photometry, and and rain at home for the the upcoming automated chart plotter; I’m sure also that everyone two weeks I was away! was particularly envious of Mario Motta’s 32” scope. I know I Even better, I experi- was! enced no precipitation The hotel bar was well utilized for the late night portions of for almost my whole the unofficial program and many interesting discussions were had trip (just in Michigan there. The highlight for me was being bear-hugged by Mike Si- and Ontario on the way monsen. After 25 years of membership in the AAVSO, I have back). So in retrospect, finally been officially initiated! it turned out to be a Time had flown by so fast, and all too soon the spring meeting great time to be away was winding down. The final venue for the meeting was the “Jane” the T-Rex at the Burpee Museum. from home and on the Burpee museum. Here we spent some time browsing the exhibits road! (including dinosaurs!), then enjoying the cash bar, and finally I set out on my automotive odyssey at 6 a.m. on Wednes- finishing up with a world-class banquet. day (May 3rd). Twelve hours and about 1200 km later (including For a few of us, Sunday morning brought a bonus feature - a a couple of hours inching my way through Chicago’s afternoon tour of Yerkes Observatory, which had been arranged by Vance rush) I arrived at Rockford and checked in at the hotel. My room- Petriew. Located in William’s Bay, Wisconsin, Yerkes is only an mate, Arto Oksanen, flew in from Finland and didn’t arrive until hour’s drive from Rockford. Our small group had a very complete around midnight local time (breakfast time for him!). tour of this great facility. We even got to go for a ride on the mov- Thursday was the day for the big council meeting. There was able floor in the main dome! That alone was worth the price of some confusion about the start time for this meeting as it had been admission! Afterwards we spent some time roaming the grounds. moved earlier in the morning. Rumor has it that at least one par- It was a great way to cap off such an enjoyable meeting! ticularly enthusiastic council member thought (quite naturally and understandably) that the start time listed was in UT, and so found rrr himself standing alone in the hotel lobby at 4 a.m.! AAVSO Newsletter 25 Birch Street Cambridge, MA 02138 USA First Class Mail

The AAVSO on the Web Blue & Gold Technology News The Blue&Gold section of the AAVSO website is a password Introducing VSX protected area reserved for AAVSO Members and AAVSO Ob- We are happy to announce the addition of a new and very servers. If you are an AAVSO member (you pay dues), you will useful tool on the AAVSO website: The International Variable have ‘GOLD’ status, which gives you unlimited access to ALL Star Index (VSX). This program serves two distinct functions: an features so you may: easy portal to access information about variable stars that is far more extensive than the GCVS; and a method of uploading vari- * Submit Observations online (WebObs) able star information. The information access includes all known * Update Your Personal AAVSO Records cross-references, basic parameters such as period and variability * Update Your MyNewsFlash Profile type, and finding charts. The upload feature permits information * Request to use the Sonoita Robotic Telescope for observing updates on known variables as well as entering new variable stars (Coming Soon) into the system. * Submit an article to JAAVSO w/ no page charge (Coming VSX was conceived and created by amateur astronomer Chris- Soon) topher Watson in response to the specific desires of the members * Access Special Deals on Books and Stellar Gifts (Coming of the AAVSO’s Chart Team and the Comparison Star Database Soon) Working Group, as well as the broader perceived need for a glob- ally-accessible central “clearing-house” for all up-to-the-minute If you are NOT a member, but you would like to contribute information on variable stars, both established and suspected. The observations to the AAVSO, we welcome your observations! You VSX web site was designed to be the on-line medium by which will be able to enter this section but you will have ‘BLUE’ access, variable star data are made available to the public, and through which limits your activity to the online submission of observations which the data are maintained, revised, and commented upon. (WebObs) and updating your AAVSO records and profiles. Con- This database literally comes alive with input from the world of sider joining the AAVSO to have full access to all the Blue&Gold registered contributors. Check out VSX on the AAVSO website features. at: http://www.aavso.org/vsx/. Kate Davis, AAVSO Headquarters